John Brough excited by challenge of Cinderford Town job

JOHN Brough said chairman Ashley Saunders’ vision for the future of Cinderford Town made it impossible for him to pass up the opportunity to take the top job at The Causeway.

Former Cheltenham Town and Hereford United defender Brough quit as manager of Bishop’s Cleeve on Tuesday night to succeed Steve Peters as Foresters boss.

He will be assisted by his old Robins team mate David Bird, who took caretaker charge of the Calor League Division One South and West club following Peters’ departure last month.

Brough will meet his new squad at training this evening and take charge of his first match against Cirencester Town on Saturday.

“I had a meeting with the chairman and he sold club to me and I was impressed with their vision for the future,” Brough said.

“They are aiming to move to a new ground within two years, they want to generate more interest in the club and I want to be part of it.

“It was a tough decision to leave Cleeve, which is a fantastic club, but for my progression as a manager I needed this new challenge.”

Another factor that influenced Brough’s decision was the size of Cinderford’s attendances in comparison to Cleeve’s.

Cinderford are averaging 121 this season, which Brough believes they can improve on, while Cleeve’s gates often drop below 50, with an average of 81.

“Cinderford often get around double what we had at Cleeve, but I want to lift it and success will be a way of doing that,” he said.

“If we can be up and around the play-offs next year it will encourage more fans to come along.

“It’s predominantly a rugby town but hopefully the two won’t clash too often on a Saturday afternoon and we will try and convert a few more to football if we can.”

Brough is planning a meet-and-greet followed by a light session tonight, following a hectic schedule of fixtures.

Cinderford, who went down 6-1 at Shortwood United last Saturday, lie 15th in the table with five matches left to play.

“I’d like to thank Dave Walker (Cleeve chairman) for giving me the role last summer and I’ve enjoyed the challenge, but I’ve moved on and I am thankful to Cinderford for giving me this new opportunity,” Brough said.

“It’s a different type of pressure now because we’ll be expecting to be up there next season challenging, but that’s given me a real appetite to get my teeth into the job.

“It’s great to have David Bird with me, who is part of the furniture at Cinderford and I am looking forward to getting started and making decisions on the squad ready for next season.”